Can You Eat or Drink before a Stress Test?

Reviewed By: Pramod Kerkar, MD, FFARCSI

Understanding stress test is important so that you will gain knowledge whether you can eat or drink before participating in it. A stress test is an intense exercise activity that provides information about the presence of inducible ischemia.

For a healthy person, the heart receives the oxygen and the nutrients through the smooth flow of the blood. They pass through the arteries, which act as a passage. When any healthy person participates in an intense exercise, there is a surge in oxygen levels by the heart to pump more blood. Since the body is in a healthy state, the heart receives the oxygen and ensures to pump the blood during the exercise and post-exercise session.

For a person who suffered a previous heart attack or possesses cholesterol/diabetes, participating in intense exercise makes it difficult for the heart to receive the oxygen. The reason is that of the narrowing down of the arteries. The clogged arteries make it impossible for the blood to provide the necessary oxygen.

What is the Stress Test?

The stress test uses a treadmill or a standstill bicycle. The patient will perform an intense activity of exercise starting from slow speeds in a stress test. The doctor will attach patches containing the electrodes to monitor the impulses created by the heart during the activity. For healthy people, the recording shows normal output in the stress test. For those with a medical history, such as heart attack, the record has a different output.

The doctor will vary the speeds to get a better idea about the amount of stress the heart can handle. In some cases, coronary diseases can also lead to a false report. Therefore, the varying speeds and conducting the stress test once again will ensure that the doctor has a clear view about the inducible ischemia.

Can You Eat or Drink Before a Stress Test?

As a prerequisite, you cannot eat or drink before the stress test. The simple reason is that consuming food will activate the digestive system, which acts as interference to the stress test. Furthermore, when the digestive system gets activated, the body focuses on releasing enzymes and acids necessary for breaking down the food particles. Conducting stress test under such a condition will provide false reports.

For people with diabetic treatment, reduction in the dosage level is preferable. However, they should consult with their doctor ahead to ensure that the physician prescribes the needed dose. Once everything is in line, you can head to the laboratory to undergo the stress test.

If the stress test shows a positive sign, then it indicates that you are possibly suffering from silent ischemia. It means that there is a fluctuation of impulse when there is excessive pressure on the heart. However, you are unable to find the presence because it does not show any physical signs.

Positive results are for people who have a medical history of heart attack, high cholesterol level, blood pressure (B.P), and overweight. If you belong to this category and the results are positive stress test, then you do have the opportunity to turn that into negative.

Making lifestyle changes and eating good food is the first step after a positive stress test. The second phase involves the treatment, where the doctor will include the activities based on the results of pre-and post-exercise sessions conducted using stress test. It is of vital importance because both the actions will ensure that the heart functions appropriately while at rest and during an exercise activity. The treatment procedure changes from one individual to another depending on the test results. The same is also true for the use of medicines.